DAY 303 Tuesday 8th JULY 2008

New York, NY (Miles to Date: 33000)

The final leg of our cross country trip takes us down through Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and finally New York. We do fit one overnight stop in Pennsylvania. This was very much heads down and go, but we did pull off when we saw signs for the BWP baseball bat factory at Brookville, PA. It was quite late in the day and we found ourselves to be the only people in the car park. Still they could not have been friendlier and were only too pleased to show yet another group of people around their factory. BWP (we believe this to stand for “Built With Pride”) is a bit of a “Mom & Pop” business but provides bats to a number of Major League Baseball players. The wood is taken from local trees, apparently Pennsylvania is the capital of hardwood in the US and is bought to the factory in rough hewn billets. The factory processes are relatively simple; the billets are turned to give the basic bat shape. The bats are weighed and categorized and then they are painted. Simple eh!

Our few days in New York is really intended for us to catch-up with friends. Our good friend Sandi-Lieb Geiger kindly puts us up in her house, although Jack and Emily get invited to stay with some friends. Yes alone time for parents!!! When you have been 24/7 with your children for nearly a year, however much you love your children, such moments are warmly relished. The trip usefully coincides with Independence Day, and we once again go down to Dobbs Ferry to enjoy the firework. Unfortunately the elements don’t play ball this year so we get somewhat moist whilst watching the fireworks. Another major agenda item is to visit Ocean ( a golden retriever as opposed to the sea!) When we lived in Ardsley we did a lot of work with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind Association, which initially included socialising puppies for 2 or 3 days at a time and latterly having adult brood dogs living with us. In our last 2 years in Ardsley we had 3 brood dogs; Quasia, Trish and Ocean. Ocean was our last dog and when she lived us she had 10 puppies, which we had back to live us when they were a few days old for 3 weeks before going back on the Guiding Eyes programmes.

When we left on our tour Ocean went to live with our friends the Murrays. A few weeks prior to returning to Ardsley we discovered Ocean was pregnant again, and as it turned out her puppies (another brood of 10) were delivered a week before our arrival. We just had to make the trip up the Guiding Eyes breeding kennels in Patterson, NY. Ocean was so pleased to see us and such a proud mummy. The pups were cute, but had yet to open their eyes and were really too small to pick up unfortunately. It was lovely just to see them and their wonderful mummy.

Our time in New York rushed by and it was soon time to depart for England. The flight was in the early evening so we had a morning to fill so we decided to visit the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. We used to be member of the LSC but it had closed for our last year there and had been completely rebuilt. It was great before but now it is brilliant! There are 11 exhibition areas on 3 floors, all hands on. There are wonderful exhibits such as the Science of Survival, exploring options for a more sustainable lifestyle, Eat and Be Eaten looking at survival strategies from nature and Energy Quest looking at fossil fuels and alternative energies.

In the Infection Connection exhibit, you can explore interactions between humans and microbes to learn about emerging diseases and see how science develops tools and technologies to prevent and treat infections. There was show which showed how operations are performed. Emily was called up to act as a scrub nurse. Luckily the patient was not a person but a poor, suffering banana! Another fun activity is that you can go into a very impressive looking laboratory area, where you get all gowned up and even conduct experiments.

Our final stop is Skyscraper which explores the towering achievements of modern civilization. There are large (two stories high), scale reconstructions of the tallest buildings in the world, some of which are still in construction. There are also some hands-on experiments to show construction methods and the effects of the environment on these humongous structures. For the daredevils there is the opportunity to follow, literally, in the footsteps of those brave construction workers with a great head for heights. Suspended in the air, some twenty feet up, are a set of i-beams which you can take a tour around. For safety sake you are harnessed so should you slip the only thing you will suffer from is embarrassment as you dangle high above the ground flapping like a turkey on a bungey rope. Jack, Emily and Karen are all brave enough to try whilst Mark, using the excuse of taking pictures, stands below and watches.